Paul Murphy (Dublin South West, RISE) | Oireachtas source

The Minister stated that there is one inescapable fact; people are living longer. In 1971, we had an average life expectancy of 71. That figure has now reached 81. It is great news that people are living longer. People should be able to enjoy a longer retirement as a result. I want to introduce the Minister to another inescapable fact which she chose not to mention. Productivity tripled between 1971 and now. Workers today produce 300% of the wealth they produced in 1971, while their real wages have only increased by about 50%. The difference went into massive and bloated profits. The attempt to increase the pension age is purely and simply an attempt to rob workers of their deferred wages by refusing to make corporations pay for them through taxation.

The Government was prevented from increasing the pension age to 67 and then 68, as written down in law, by the outrage felt during the election campaign and the results of that election. Now it is attempting to sneak that increase in through the back door. That is the purpose of the pensions commission, which is headed by the person responsible for ramming through the hated local property tax. We do not need another commission or another report. We need the Government to respect the workers who helped to build this society and their right to retire in dignity at 65. Rather than increasing, the retirement age should be brought down to 65 at the highest, so that the wealth created by workers can be used to improve their lives.

As a result of the decision of Fine Gael and the Labour Party to raise the age to 66, 4,000 65-year-olds in this State are out of work and unable to get the State pension. They have to sign on for jobseeker's allowance and are losing out on more than €2,000. People who have worked all their lives and left their jobs at 65 have been left to twist in the wind. They are unable to get a job but are not allowed to get the State pension. Ireland is a wealthy country. We are the fifth richest country in the world per capita. One would not think it from how workers, particularly older workers, are treated. We can afford a decent retirement for all workers. The problem is that we have a Government of millionaires who are more concerned with protecting billionaires from taxes than supporting the workers who created the wealth.

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